# Pronounciation of "homage" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115 "2009-03-28T19:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/1 "2009-03-28T19:57:11Z")
What’s the proper way to pronounce the word “homage”? I’ve seen more and more people recently pronounce it in a French fashion (i.e., “oh-mahj” with a soft J), whereas I’ve always been told it’s got a hard English sound (“ah-midg” or “hah-midg”). All the dictionary sites online with audio pronounciations seem to support the latter, but other people have said “well it comes from French, so it should be pronounced that way.” What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/2 "2009-03-28T20:25:23Z")
ah is right ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/3 "2009-03-28T20:25:26Z")
What has really irritated me about the Frenchified version is that the usage seems to be part of the artsy-fartsy set’s way of covering up bad film-making. DVD commentaries abound with the word, the pronunciation and the excuse by having this lame scene be an _homage_ to Hitchcock and that one an _homage_ to Charlie Chaplin and yet another an _homage_ to Ed Wood. Snooty affectations all. My dictionary has both your second pronunciations without so much as a mention of the prissy one. Fine by me! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/4 "2009-03-28T20:27:42Z")
Probably comes from people thinking that since “fromage” and “homage” look similar, they must rhyme. Borne of ignorance, I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/5 "2009-03-28T21:06:11Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Probably comes from people thinking that since “fromage” and “homage” look similar, they must rhyme. Borne of ignorance, I imagine. I don’t think it’s “ignorant” to use the original pronounciation of a word. If anything, I would say it’s the other way around. In Scandinavia people are more familiar with the French language, and we pronounce the word in the french way. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/6 "2009-03-28T21:09:58Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > I don’t think it’s “ignorant” to use the original pronounciation of a word. It depends . . . do you say “ask” or “aks”? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/7 "2009-03-28T21:18:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It depends . . . do you say “ask” or “aks”? Why, would you think I’m “ignorant” if I said “aks”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/8 "2009-03-28T21:18:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It depends . . . do you say “ask” or “aks”? Do you say Wendsday or Wednesday? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/9 "2009-03-28T21:21:40Z")
calavry or cavalry? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/10 "2009-03-28T21:22:09Z")
I’d never heard it pronounced “ah-midge,” such that I’m surprised to even see that pronounciation in the dictionaries pointed out by the OP. Color me educated. I thought it was “oh-majh.” I’ll get around to re-learning IPA one of these days I promise. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/11 "2009-03-28T22:12:23Z")
Febuary, or February? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/12 "2009-03-28T22:14:50Z")
Depends upon regional dialect. I say it this way: hah-midg. NW USA. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/13 "2009-03-28T22:18:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Febuary, or February? Febuary. And for some reason there is a local tendancy to put an R in Washington. Warshington? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/14 "2009-03-28T22:41:40Z")
tomato or tomato? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/15 "2009-03-28T22:49:24Z")
eh Are we a little bored tonight, Kids? 🙂 Q ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/16 "2009-03-28T23:25:39Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > calavry or cavalry? 🙂 calavry? Shouldn’t that be calvary? Or do I not know my mispronunciations? ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/17 "2009-03-29T00:28:36Z")
jigawatt or gigawatt? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/18 "2009-03-29T00:40:09Z")
I’ve only ever heard the oh-mahj pronunciation in all my 50+ years. And yes, if you say aks (or axe) instead of ask, I will think you a bit ignorant until you prove otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/19 "2009-03-29T00:41:58Z")
Well, in gestures of respect as in yogic meditation, there’s a great deal of Om-age. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115/20 "2009-03-29T02:41:35Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I’ve only ever heard the oh-mahj pronunciation in all my 50+ years. And yes, if you say aks (or axe) instead of ask, I will think you a bit ignorant until you prove otherwise. …Illustrating that dialect leads to prejudicial thinking. A number of studies show that people judge others’ intelligence by the dialects and speech patterns they use. Southerners are often judged to be stupid, based on their drawl alone. And some people are considered to be ignorant, merely by their pronunciation of the word, ask. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-homage/491115.md?page=2)